Cops: Man fatally wounded by shotgun blast in West Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Daily News - PhillyConfidential
Cops: Man fatally wounded by shotgun blast in West Philadelphia
This post has been updated
An unidentified man died after taking a shotgun blast to his face and shoulder while he sat inside a car on 47th Street between Parrish and Westminster in the Mill Creek section of West Philadelphia, police said.
Cops said the man was sitting inside a dark 1997 Nissan Maxima around 8:30 p.m. when he was shot. Medics pronounced the man dead on the scene at 8:55 p.m.
Investigators said it appeared that the suspect shot the victim through the driver's side window of the car that the victim was driving. Police said the car hit at least one house, but the house did not appear to be badly damaged.
Police were unsure of the circumstances surrounding the shooting, and a detailed description of the suspect was not immediately available.
The victim was unidentifable because of the exent of his injuries, Chief Inspector Scott Small said. Police said the man was between 20 and 30 years old.
As they scoured the scene, police found a shotgun in an alley near Markoe Street and reovered three shotgun shells.
Neighbors of the West Philadelphia block said if it weren't such a rainy night, the murder may never have happened.
"If it wasn't raining, we all would've been out there, the kids would've been out there," said Yanilla Brown, 33, as she and other neighbors watched cops investigate the eerie scene under a sky lit by cracks of lightning.
Brown and other neighbors said they don't recognize the 1997 Nissan sedan the man died in. His body, his face shot off in the blast, lie slumped in the driver's seat as cops milled about the block.
"Another statistic," Brown said, sighing. "It's a shame that someone's son is lying in there like that."
Thunder boomed above as Brown's 7-year-old daughter slipped out of her house and joined her at the corner, peering down the street at the car.
"Mommy, they said they gotta take the body out," the young child said.
Brown covered her daughter's head with her hands and gently moved the young girl back toward home.
"Yeah, but we don't wanna see that," she said.
Wow,so sad,but just maybe if the city gets more cameras on the streets,and increase the lighting on these streets,they may be able to catch some of these crimes happening.— knicknasty- People are literally getting their heads blown off in the City of Philadelphia, and Ramsey is still the police commissioner.— discobiscuit
- I don't have any opinion of Chief Ramsey's performance one way or the other, but would like to ask you how he, or the police in general, are accountable for this kind of stuff.
What are the chances that the deceased in this case was an innocent victim of a random crime/assult? The safe bet is that this man was involved in some type of illegal activity, a drug buy perhaps, or was getting "paid back" for something he did. I don't believe it is the responsibility of the police to somehow prevent things like this from occurring, in fact it's probably impossible for them to do so even if you feel it is their role.
Why, in our society, does someone else always have to be responsible rather than the person(s) involved?— joefa104 - Someone else is not responsible for the individual crime, but for the bigger problem. BECAUSE we live in a society. And our society is one of enormous economic, political, racial, social, and cultural disparity. The crimes detailed her are ugly. The comments about them are equally horrific. This disharmony, and the vicious and hateful rhetoric behind it, must stop. The crime is the individual's. The epidemic belongs to all of us. — ahumanbeing
- Neighbors of the West Philadelphia block said if it weren't such a rainy night, the murder may never have happened.
"If it wasn't raining, we all would've been out there, the kids would've been out there,"
Yeah, like that stopped the thug who shot up a block party and hit a two year old.— LouDiamondPhillipsheadScrewdriver - yea, it's the weather's fault.— mwright252
- With the turnover rate, one can always find a short-term job in the drug business.— J5player
- killadlphia— bigtom blew3
- The kid is taken away, onlly when they are ready to remove the body, nice. No THAT you can't see. But Mr. No Face, no problem.
-not bob levy— remyy - They ready for war .. Are you? probably not you better pray that youre not one of their victims in a robbery attempt! And we dont want your family members to say, stuff like that doesnt happen here.. ok— noncents
- Obviously, if this guy would have been legally registered to carry a firearm, this would not have happened. And the shotgun, I am sure it is also legally registered to the shooter. So it should be easy to track him down, right? Probably bought it at Walmart in NC or SC.— MichaelZoe
- Was he on his way to a shotgun wedding?— Commentdant_Klink
Comment removed.
